Marci [Elauni]

[Arvo]

3rd Day of Summer 514AV

Arvo woke up with a start that morning. He sat bolt upright in his bed, and then groaned at the hangover headache. “Shoulda bought a petching hangover tonic,” He muttered to himself. He didn’t remember much of the night before, but he knew that he’d gotten outrageously drunk. It was a wonder he’d managed to get home at all in his state. “Marci!” He called for his dog “Marci fetch me my pants would you? We have to hunt today.” There was not response, and Arvo looked around, puzzled. “Marci?” He called again, standing up.

Had she got outside? Maybe she was behind the house? He called for her again, pulling on a pair of pants and grabbing his shortsword before going outside and cerciling his house a few times, searching for her. As he looked he grew more and more agitated. He couldn’t have lost her that was ridiculous! She slept inside, afterall, so how could she have run away? Maybe she got out, but even still, she wouldn’t just run. Oh this was bad. Marci was a fierce and well trained animal. Surely she’d be worth a lot to some people. What if someone took her?

“Petch, Petch, Petch!” Arvo yelled loudly as he circled his house for the third time finding nothing. Did Marci run off? There’s not way that dog would just run off into the streets like that, unless all the time he’d spent training her had been for nothing. That dog was going to be in some serious shyke when he found her. Unless someone stole her. This made Arvo stop, a dangerous look on his face. Marci was a hunting dog, built for speed, and well trained. She was bound to be valuable. “I need to kill something” He muttered as he took to the streets, keeping his eyes peeled, and his ears open for clues. It wasn’t long before he found his first one. A young man was chatting to another about a canine they’d seen. “The dog was a good one. Definitely not a stray- Wish I’d gotten to it first. Coulda made some miza out of it.”

Of course, they could have been talking about any dog, in fact, there had been reports of a run away dog with a reward for being found recently so it was probably that. But Arvo didn’t think of this, instead he marched right up too them and put his shortsword to one of their necks “Where is this ‘dog’ you were talking about? Who stole it?” He demanded, slicing the first layer of the mans skin to say he wasn’t kidding around “What the petch is your problem?” The man said, curling his top lip. Arvo pressed harder “Who stole my petching dog!? I won’t ask again” The man looked genuinely afraid, and his buddy had taken one look at the situation and left him there. This seemed to make him register his position.

His eyes scanned the crowd “She’s a theif! She took it!” He yelled, pointing at a young woman across the street. Arvo turned to look and the man slipped away. He squinted at the woman who had been accused. She was short and athletic, with curly blonde hair and keen blue eyes. Arvo put away his weapon and strode decisively towards her. There was a fair possibility that he was lying, but he had no other leads as of yet, and the man he’s been interrogating was now nowhere to be seen.

As he approached her, his face was far from its normal calm state, but it wasn’t quite as dangerous as before. “You, you’re the thief I’ve heard about. You take my dog?” He spat, coming far to close to her than was comfortable. He spoke in a calm way but his narrowed eyes told a different story. ‘It’s dangerous to cross me’ they said. He tapped the handle of his blade lightly as he glared at her “You will give her back and If you’ve hurt her, I’ll hurt you.” He told her, slithering even further into her personal space so that they were face to face. He couldn’t afford to lose Marci. Even if he bought another dog, it would take ages to train it.

[Elauni]

"Go make yourself useful, and pick up some stuff, he says. Oh, I'll show you useful," Elauni walked down the the old cobblestone streets, ranting under her breath about her earlier encounter with her rude Uncle. The man hadn't even given her hello or good morning to her, before tossing a dirty shirt at her, waking her from a good sleep, and telling her to make herself useful. He had some nerve. She was supposed to pick up some parchment and quills for his writing, and she was never one for disobeying her Uncle, no matter what kind of an ass he was being. She wondered vaguely what he was always writing about alone at his desk. She was sure they were plans, but her curiosity never brought her to pry into his activities. There were always consequences for those who were too curious. If something wrong was occurring in his work, then Elauni would rather be blind and innocent than aware of his actions. She preferred to keep the man from her thoughts as much as she could. It wasn't long before Elauni had reached the more crowded area of town where shop keeps and peddlers would bring their stands to sell their goods. She searched across the sea of faces for the more familiar one of the man she had come to know while making constant trips to retrieve parchment for her Uncle. He was a sweet older man, who never had too much to say, but when he spoke it was always something pleasant. A light in such a dark and foul place. She came upon him at a slow time this day. He was perched on an old stool, leaning forward on his stand, face rested against his palm with a look of boredom plastered on his face. He seemed to be gazing at an older woman at another stall, setting up fresh apples in rows. Elauni broke him out of his thoughts with a chirpy, "How are you?" He was surprised at first, but once the initial shock faded he grinned, the occasional tooth missing within his mouth, but this did not take away from the warm feel it gave Elauni. "Elauni, muh' girl. It's been ta' long since I seen tha' face of yers.' Wha' brings yah' here t'day?" He now stood at attention, all motions he displayed were in a welcoming manner. "Oh, you know. Slaving for my Uncle," Elauni replied comfortably, eyeing the stacks of papers the man had laid out, bound together by thin rope. The peddler laughed good naturedly, "Well, take yer' pick, child. I have plenty." Elauni looked over the stacks. Her Uncle hadn't been necessarily specific about how much he needed. She hadn't asked, being in a hurry to get out of the house and away from him. Maybe she should bring back two, just to be safe. She reached to her money pouch tied to her belt, pulling the small string undone that kept it closed. The vague sound of yelling reached her ears, but she passed it off, as yelling was a commodity in Sunberth's busy streets. She handed the old man her Miza, and bid him a farewell, but as she turned to walk away, she was met with the face of a man whom she almost walked right into. He stared with and angry intent into her eyes. His gold clashed with her light blue, which stared back confused. "You. You're the thief I've heard about. You take my dog?" The man spat, moving closer to her than before. Elauni held fast the the bound parchment in her arms, and did he best shy her face away from the man who was coming into her personal zone. Had he just called her a thief? Well, it wasn't necessarily a lie, but Elauni had definitely not stolen anything today, a dog none the less, nor had she planned to. His eyes were fierce, almost reflecting his intentions of harming her had she said that she took the animal. That was when she heard the faint, but clear at the moment sound of tapping. Her eyes dropped to his hand which remained on the handle of a blade sheathed at his side. Panic filled every fiber of her being. Regardless of what she said, she felt the man would not take her answer honestly. She felt her heartbeat increase, and the proximity of his face to hers made her far too uncomfortable. She had never seen someone to upset about a missing dog... She opened her mouth to speak, but she couldn't seem to find her voice. She was completely unprepared for this sudden encounter. "You will give her back, and if you hurt her, I'll hurt you." The venom laced in his tone was enough to tell Elauni this guy meant business. What had she just gotten herself into? She dared to shoot a glace to her right. She could flee. She could flee, and run to safety. He slithered forward, inching even closer to her body. She had come to the conclusion this man was going to kill her no matter what she said. She let out a nervous laugh, and backed up until she felt her back bump roughly against the old man's stand. There was no further delay. With one swift movement, she turned and began springing away, clinging tightly to the paper in her arms, for fear they would fly away. She moved as fast as her little body would take her, and hoped her speed was good enough to outrun this man. She had always been very fast, but she knew nothing about this man, or what kind of determination he had. 'Run. Run. Run. Don't turn around. He is going to kill you.' She though terrified, as she used her strength to force herself to move faster.

[Arvo]

For a moment, Arvo actually began to doubt that she was the one. Maybe she simply stumbled across Marci, assuming she was a stray? Maybe his intimidation tactics had been a little too heavy-handed for the situation. He’d been too rash, letting his anger speak for him. Habits from windreach obviously still held some hold on him despite his hatred for their whole mentality. Still, there was no going back on himself now. He had to stick with it, hoping she’d just fess up, or at least point him in the right direction.

But the young woman looked back at him, frozen, with blatant terror etched into her expression. Her icey blue eyes were as wide as saucepans and Arvo thought she might start trembling when she noticed him tapping the weapon at his side. He waited for a response, but nothing left her lips but a panicky little chuckle. She scrambled backwards, backing into the stand behind her, before bolting. For Arvo, that was enough to substitute an actual admission of guilt, and he swore under his breath and got after her. Running, he hated running, especially through busy petching streets full of men and women with pointy weapons and foul attitudes. But it was unlikely he’d see her again if she got away, so he refused to give up. Besides, the chase was a little thrilling. She was like a deer as it dodged and weaved through the terrain to escape the predator.

And Arvo was the predator, powerful feat thumping the ground below him as he closed the distance. The trouble was, she was fast, much faster than him. She was also more nimble, and had an easier time turning corners sharply. People complained loudly as he zipped by them, nearly knocking them over. When she sped up, Arvo responded, determined to catch up with her. He could do it so long as he didn’t lose her visual. Eventually she’d get tired before him, because if there was one advantage Arvo had in this situation, it was his excellent stamina. He could run for longer, always favoring long distance running over short bursts. He’d catch up eventually, she was his only lead, and he couldn’t lose her.

He was closing the distance rapidly, to the point where he thought he’d caught up to her he managed to bang straight into another man. “Shyke, I’m sorry mate!” He called, getting out of there as soon as he’d recovered from the blow in case the man retaliated violently. He got away, but those precious seconds he’d lost would be hard to get back.

[Elauni]

Elauni was never one for confrontation. She was always more of a lover rather than a fighter, well, more so of an actress than a lover...regardless, fighting and conflict had never been one of her strong points. She had the wit to instigate conflict, but when it came to honestly backing up her words, testing the theory of whether or not she could hold her own against another living being had never been achieved, leading her to the assumption that if she were to try it probably would not end well for her. This unfortunate flaw in Elauni's personality lead her to pursue alternative options for escaping the jaws of death, and now it is a well established fact that Elauni is very good at...running away. Her thoughts were fleeting memories of the rationality she left behind at the stand, moving as quickly as her body was to escape her pursuer. Racing through the streets while managing not to crash into any of the people that crowded here to shop was easier said than done, but she managed the best she could. She could hear the sound of rushing are as she worked her way through the crowd, the light metallic sound of jewelry moving, and the faint skim of her body against another's skin or clothes. These noises only became clear in the momentary lapses between the sound of her own heartbeat that thrummed loudly in her ears. She could feel her legs beginning to weaken, often finding her legs would suddenly give out, but her reactions were swift enough that she could recover immediately before falling to the ground. She tightened her hands around the parchment in her arms, and pushed further. She could hear him, close behind, keeping up with her. Dread filled her heart, and coiled in her stomach. If he caught up to her, the gods only knew what he would do to her. The image of his finger tapping on his blade returned to her mind. She was sure that wasn't just there for show. She didn't want to be murdered under because of a false allegation made by a madman with a dagger. It was the sound of a loud thump behind her that brought back the hope in her heart. She chances a look back to see what had happened, and by the looks of it, the gods were smiling down upon her for the madman had run into someone else, stopping him in his tracks. This was her chance to get away from him, but she had to do it fast, before she ran out of energy. Her stamina wasn't exactly the best, though she was fast on her feet. With a smile on her face, she rounded a corner at high speed, knowing the layout of Sunberth like the back of her hand, she could get away through this back alley. She was so happy she could cry. It was a wall that tore apart of her dreams of escape. She let out a yell and dug her feet into the ground to slow herself to a stop. Where had this wall come from? It had never been there before...she racked her mind, and remembered the vague mentioning of construction nearby from an old woman when she was out shopping. She cursed the construction workers mentally, before turning back around. She scanned the alley. There was nothing she could take cover behind, no doors to break into, no windows. She turned back toward the entrance of the alley. If she moved now she could get out of this petching dead end, and find another way to get out of harms way. She started at a run for the open streets.

[Arvo]

The seconds lost had left him without a visual on his target as she turned a corner somewhere. She was good at running, much faster than him. This was all so troublesome, and he was close to just giving up. He could still hunt without Marci, it just meant he’d have to do a lot more work to do, and he’d have to fetch the prey he shot down himself. Hunts were just more efficient with a dog. Besides, Marci also provided protection. His dog would attack on command. Marci had been a rare jewel, especially at a place like Kilroys Kennels where the dogs were mangy and feral. She’d obviously had a previous owner who’d loved her, and treated her well. Arvo took credit for training her though. He’d never fancied birds, but he had a way with animals. Usually he just didn’t care enough to bother with them, not unles they were useful to him.

He couldn’t just give up on her. So he sped up and dodged people left and right, focusing on the first back ally that was a likely path for his target to flee too. A dead end, but no target. He backed out of the alleyway and tried another. Crash! Arvo collided head on with the girl he’d been chasing. The confusion and the collision made him stumble back cursing. “Just petching stop!” He growled placing a hand firmly onto her shoulder so that she couldn’t run off again. The running had just pissed him off further, and he was about to say something else when he heard something in the distance.

Unmistakably a dogs bark, but it sounded like Marci’s. Marci didn’t bark a lot, so he couldn’t be sure. He thought it worth following, but he couldn’t let go of this woman in case it turned out to be another dog. “That’s a few blocks down” He muttered, moving his hand to grab her arm “You’re coming with me” He barked, holding her tightly with a vise-like grip. He would then begin pulling her along to investigate the noise. It definitely sounded like his dog, in which case this would be rather awkward.

Not far away, there were some very dirty looking humans, some without even the luxury of shoes, were waving fairly unimpressive looking blades at a dog which had been cornered against a wall. One of them hung back, his arm bleeding from a bite mark that would definitely fester and eventually kill him if not treated. Still making sure to keep a grip on the girl, he pushed one of them out of the way so he could see. When he saw her, a chuckle broke from his lips “Oh Shyke, this is awkward.” He said, letting her go. He pulled out his shortsword and the vagabonds grumbled and scattered. Placing it back, he called to the dog “Marci, heel.” The dog scampered to his side, wagging her tail. “Uh so, I apologize yeah?” Arvo said backing up from the girl he’d been chasing “She’s just very valuable” He said scratching the back of his head awkwardly, his whole demeanor changing to his usual grinning self. “I uh, wasn’t going to kill you, if that helps, was just trying to intimidate ya’ into confessin’” He muttered, feeling rather embarrassed “Probably doesn’t”